Q & A

Hullo, I believe
there was a strip showing the 3 older brothers of England but is it possible
for you to tell me who is who of the 3 I found Scotland but am confused bw
Northern Ireland and Wales it’s awfully carking

Hi! There is no such strip. They have no official character
designs. Some people mistake this image to be them, but nothing’s been confirmed.
Although, it’s similar to Himaruya’s hypothetical-character design of what
Scotland would look like.

Sources: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Sept 28th, 2014) + Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, Feb 9th, 2011).

Okay, sorry to
bother you with my person. Bur i really want to hear someone’s thoughts about
this. So you know how Poland always laughs/jokes or is just a big child
sometimes? I think that’s just a persona that he puts to hide his true
identity. I think he is actually really scared and hurt most of the time. (You
can even say that he is depressed) After so many wars, partitions and
betrayals. He developed trust issues- and deep down believes he can only count
on himself. (liet doesnt know this)

You’re not bothering me!

What you said is pretty much canon except for the fact that
Lithuania is aware of Poland’s anxiety. The two are close and consider each
other to be partners.

I’ve also done a post illustrating Poland’s bizarre coping mechanisms [x].

Source: Hetarchive, Volume 2 character note.

I love reading your analysis on hetalia! I had
a question and thought you’d have the answer. So, in one of the strips, grandpa
rome is shown visiting romano in his dream. People use this to show how he
loves both romano and veneziano. But the thing is, the first thing he tells
romano is to get along with his brother. Like he’s not saying anything about
romano, but he’s talking about his brother even in his dream.

I’m not saying rome doesn’t love him because he
hopefully does, but that strip shows him caring more for italy, proving
romano’s point of him favouring italy more than himself. I’m not seeing how
people use this as evidence of rome loving them equally. Am i reading this
wrong..?

Thank you! I don’t
really believe in saying a person’s interpretations are wrong. Although, my
interpretation is different.

I think the dream
sequence is Rome recognizing that the two brothers getting along are in both of
their best interest. He simply tailors his encouragement to them.

Source: Hetascanlations,
World Stars Chapter 54.

There’s also the fact
that Romano cries tears of joy when Rome visits him.

Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans. April 5th 2011).

Hi! After reading most of your post about
relationships between brothers it pretty much seems that the majority of them
are pretty rocky. But which one do you think is the best brothers’ relationship
and which one’s the worst? Sorry for my English btw, love your blog 😀

Your English is perfect???! Thank you!

Honestly, the worst are probably the Italy brothers. Even Japan and China are capable of cooperating. As for the best? Recently, I’d have to say America and Canada. They even have a cooking show together!

Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 272.

Hi Ella, what do we know about Romano and his
relationship with the mafia? It still pisses me off whenever people put them
together in some way, even with mafia au fics, I can’t stand it.

He hates the mafia. They have no affiliation together whatsoever. I have a longer post on that here [x],

Yes. There are the ancients who died (e.g., Rome and Germania) permanently. They reside in Heaven.

Source: Hetarchive, Grandpa Rome’s Visit Home.

Then, there’s the phenomenon where personifications can die and regenerate.

Source: The Ruler of Scandinavia and The King of Eastern Europe, Volume 3.

(France is shot by Switzerland.)

Source: Hetarchive, Christmas 2007 Event.

Source: Hetarchive, Hetare 4: Pact of Steel.

Source: Hetarchive, In just two minutes you can grasp the exterior of the European economy.

The following post aims to give a concise breakdown of
Lithuania and Poland’s relationship. Since the material can be used for both
shipping and friendship purposes, I’ve tagged things accordingly. In analyzing
their relationship, I’ve sorted it into three main themes. Let’s go over them.

Balanced Imbalance

A core theme of Poland and Lithuania’s relationship is that
the inequality (for lack of a better word) of their dynamic is what balances them out so well. In other
words, while Poland may weld most of the power in their relationship, it’s this
imbalance that makes it both strong and palpable.

Poland is known for being extremely shy
and anxious towards strangers. He felt this way before meeting Lithuania—to the
point that he was crying and begging for the event not to go forward. However, during their first encounter he became strangely receptive to Lithuania.

Source: Volume 3, The First Time the Poland Rule Was Used.

We later learn from an observer that Poland joked around
more with Lithuania than he had previously.

Source: Volume 3, the Legend of the Iron Wolf

The power imbalance mostly has to do with how Poland treated
Lithuania. He perceived himself to be the lord and Lithuania, the lackey.

Source: ibid.

Other instances of this would include:

Ex: Poland not listening to Lithuania as the latter recites
folklore to him.

Source: Ibid.

Ex: Poland had a tendency to slack off in his duties.

Source: Volume 3, Tannenberg – The Aftermath

Nonetheless, the two functioned very efficiently.

Ex: They fought together.

Source:

Volume 3, The Ruler of Scandinavia and The King of Eastern Europe.

Ex: They traded together.

Source: Volume 4, At Netherlands’

What you’ll see in later sections is that regardless of
these idiosyncrasies in their relationship, the two made a lasting and inseparable
impression on each other.

Divorce vs Nostalgic
Obligation

This theme involves their forced divorce and the subsequent
end of their empire.

Lithuania was forcefully torn away from Poland. As he begs
for Poland to help him, Poland watches and points out how funny Lithuania’s
face looks. While I attribute the crudeness to the fact that this strip was
created in 2006 and that Himaruya’s characterizations weren’t as sophisticated then as they are now, it’s still material I have to work with.

Source: Hetarchive, Main Storyline Chapter 4

This bitter divorce created a lot of resentment in
Lithuania, who became Russia’s servant in the aftermath.

However, a counter for Poland’s behaviour comes later in the
“While you were gone strip,” where he sees the abuse and torture that
Lithuania was subjected to in Russia’s home. In
that case, perhaps Poland didn’t realize the grave implications of what it
would mean to be under Russia’s rule.

Source: Hetarchive, While you were gone.

We then learn in a character note that Lithuania was so damaged that he was rehabilitating with Poland during this time (i.e.,
the years between WW1 and WW2). The note
also goes on to mention that although Lithuania may be dragged around by
Poland, he seems to be enjoying himself.

Source: Volume 2

Lithuania’s resentment is revealed in two instances:

1)
He feels like he’s in paradise when he moves to
America and lives in the latter’s home in exchange for work, citing how living
with Poland wasn’t exactly the most pleasant option.

Source: Hetarchive, Lithuania’s Out-Sourcing pt. 1.

2)
After being invaded by Russia once more,
Lithuania hears of Russia’s plans to invade Poland. He goes through a series of
conflicted of emotions and flashbacks, calling Poland a bastard for letting
Russia capture him in the past. Regardless, he still has it in his heart to
warn Poland and worry about the latter’s well-being.

The nostalgic obligation, then, pertains to how Lithuania
and Poland’s past, grey and muddled as it may be, still makes them feel a sense
of obligation and duty to look after each other.

Source: Hetarchive, Main Storyline Chapter 4.

Restoration and
Reconciliation

Although touched on in the last theme, the two haven’t let
the past get in the way of their relationship.

Ex: Poland stands
up for Lithuania and protects him from Russia during a world meeting.

Source: Volume 1, Meeting of the World.

Ex: Lithuania
doesn’t attend meetings for the Choral Club (in the Gakuen AU) because he’s too
busy showing Poland around.

Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., July 10, 2011)

In sum, whereas political and personal relationships are concerned,
Lithuania and Poland’s has been able to triumph through many obstacles. Their dynamic
has proven to contain considerable resilience as they continue to be life-long
friends.

*wears summer clothes even though it’s fall temperatures*

*September 22nd*

Me:

Who’s the sassiest character?

Poland.

Another contender would be England, but then again, he’s
more along the lines of being snarky.

Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Mar 19th 2015).

Sure thing! It’ll be
both a shipping and friendship post since the material isn’t mutually
exclusive. Post coming up tonight!

‘Fans’: Hetalia is dying uwu ;;

Also ‘Fans’: *doesn’t reblog or like anything Hetalia related.*

What this post will explore is the misgivings of Poland’s
characterization. This will just be a quick rundown of why he was characterized
the way that he was. I’ll conclude with a brief critique of Himaruya’s approach
to the subject.

Poor Creator Choice:

A common reaction in the fandom is complete bewilderment at Himaruya’s
characterization of Poland. No Polish cultural stereotypes implicate cross-dressing or speaking in a Nagoya (school girl/ valley girl) accent.

Poland’s “high-schooler”
speech was a creative choice made by Himaruya (vol 1 bio), albeit in poor taste.

“Also, his Nagoya high schooler-like speech is just a personal preference of the artist.”

In the
fourth original chapter, Himaruya also confirms that this choice was pointless;
in other words, there was no real meaning or significance to it. He did it
because it was his preference.

Sources: Hetarchive.net/ Poland + Hetarchive, notes & etc + Hetarchive, main story chapter 4.

When
you portray—let alone personify—another culture, a vast degree of
consciousness and discretion must be exercised. While Poland’s initial design as a girl
influenced the cross-dressing trope, it doesn’t make it any less of a bad decision
on his part.

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, July 23, 2008).

Character Notes:

Other criticisms of Poland’s character have to do with how
incompetent, silly, and unserious he comes off as. I’m not here to argue
against that. What I am here to disprove is the claim that this was done with
no meaning behind it.

That’s not true. Again, while it’s poorly done in taste, it
still has a purpose to Poland’s character.

He’s described as a shy and anxious person who becomes weird
to hide this sensitivity.

Source: Hetarchive.net/ Poland

Ex: When he and Lithuania first form their union. He initially didn’t want to talk to Lithuania but later adopts an ‘eccentric’ casing to hide behind.

Avoidance, Underuse,
and Reformulation (?)

As Hetarchive’s profile on him has already pointed out, over the
years, Poland’s tendency to cross-dress has “toned down.” In other words, the
trope isn’t as common anymore.

Source: Hetarchive, Halloween 2006 comic + Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, November 13, 2013).

This is an ongoing trend in Himaruya’s content that I’ve
picked up on over the years. It’s clear that he’s learned from his mistakes by
discarding harmful, insensitive, and ignorant portrayals of the characters.
However, what disappoints me is that rather than acknowledging these mistakes,
he has chosen not to comment on the matter. This is more harmful in my opinion
because it lets the pot of discourse stew and boil in an unresolved,
discombobulated mess.

Coming in late to class with a sarcastic teacher like

Who would you say is the most photogenic?

For me, it’s always a debate between Poland or Austria. Poland
wins because he’s more confident in his looks (despite being an overall anxious
person).

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng Trans., Hetarchive, Sep 29th, 2010).